Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,655 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 5,597 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.35% of Waters worth $68,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in Waters by 55.3% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 118 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 300.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 144 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $298.67.

Insider Transactions at Waters

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Waters Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WAT traded down $3.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $310.25. The company had a trading volume of 530,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 411,131. The stock has a market cap of $18.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.92. Waters Co. has a one year low of $231.90 and a one year high of $363.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $335.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $306.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.06. Waters had a return on equity of 81.30% and a net margin of 21.72%. The business had revenue of $819.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $815.50 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.84 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Waters Profile

Waters Corporation provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments: Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans.